“She’s not kin.”
“She’s his spouse. She inherits his estate,” I said.
Theo scowled.
“Guess you should have gone to an actual law school, not done an online degree.” I couldn’t help the dig, though I knew it was petty.
Theo glared murderously at me.
“I don’t care. I’m going to have a big, beautiful baby.” Oakley rubbed her belly.
“Oakley can’t have the house,” Emmie argued. “It’s not Brooks’s to give. That was our house.”
“Your name is not on the deed,” Theo said, pulling a document from the folder.
Tears pooled in her brown eyes. “Only because he said since I wasn’t putting money for the down payment, I couldn’t be on the deed. But then I ended up having to help him pay the mortgage. Now I know he didn’t have any money because he was supporting his mistresses—”
“Mistresses?” Oakley snarled. “Brooks wasn’t cheating on me.”
Beatrice sat ramrod straight in her seat. Maybe Emmie and Zoe had been on to something at the funeral after all.
“So you paid rent, Emmie,” Theo asked snidely.
“We’ll contest it,” I said to Emmie automatically. The last bit of estate law I’d done had been back at Harvard, but the thought of Brooks and Theo having the last word was intolerable.
“I want to contest the whole will! When was that will redone?” Emmie demanded, waving a folded stack of papers at Theo. “I have the latest will right here and the life insurance policy.”
“Angry that you killed him for nothing?” Theo sneered.
“My client didn’t—”
“Fuck you, Marius.”
“Life insurance policy?” Oakley screeched. “That’s mine!”
“Oh, he didn’t have you change that,” Emmie said sweetly, unfolding the paperwork and sliding it over. “Well, well. Guess he didn’t love you that much after all. Shocking that the man you helped cheat would turn around and cheat you.”
Beatrice made a strangled noise.
“At least I still have the car,” Oakley snarled.
“Your child has the car,” I corrected, “and furthermore, it’s unclear if that baby is even Brooks’s.”
“How dare you!” Oakley jumped up.
“Before any property is transferred, we need to have confirmation of paternity.” I stared at Theo, silently hoping he’d put up a fight just so I could wipe the floor with him in court. Petty? Yes. But holidays and small towns made people crazy.
“Fine,” Theo spat, “we’ll have confirmation.”
“This is horrible!” Beatrice wailed.
“You’ll have to wait until the baby is born,” Oakley said. “I don’t want to put little Brooks Jr. in danger. In the meantime, Theo, I want to sue her”—she pointed at Emmie—“for the life insurance money.”
“I’ll file the paperwork immediately.”
“She killed him.I know she did.” Emmie was fuming. “The will is proof! Brooks knew Oakley was up to something. That’s why he changed the will. He didn’t trust women. Ever. He always accused them of being gold diggers.”
“It is suspicious,” I agreed, “and it’s good for you if this murder goes to trial. I have notes, and I had the paralegal make color copies of the will for my records.”
